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[Kath Gra'tuur]

Hi All!

I had a separate thread with some soft part work that I had done.  I will link to it later.  I went ahead and started a new thread to give updates on some of the things I have been working on. 

First, I have been working on my ammo pouches.  I found some basic "leather" cell phone pouches at Dollar Tree.  Normally, these are not CRL approved for adult costumes.  However, I noted in the other thread that I was given permission to use these cell  phone pouches as long as I adequately modified them. 

In the link below, I gave a simple tutorial on how I added extra leather to the sides to close up the holes and used wood blocks to expand them to make them bigger.  To see that tutorial, you can go here:

http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=129201.0

For this thread, I wanted to show how they are coming along. 

Here is a picture of what the  pouches look like after the glue dries on the side and with the wood blocks.  This one has not been weathered at all. 



Here is a picture of a pouch that I have weathered.  I started with sanding it to roughen up the shine.  I then took my pocket knife and gouged some scrapes in it and tore up some of the edges a bit.  Next I proceeded with a brown / black wash that did a decent job of changing the color of the stitching.  After the leftovers of the wash dried out, I took a cotton pad and dabbed and rubbed a little black acrylic paint into to darken it up a bit more.  After that dried, I took my knife and did some more scraping.  This is the result. 



Here are the two side by side:



What are your thoughts on the weathering? 

[Kath Gra'tuur]

Here are 5 of the pouches, black washed and weathered.  I have one more that is in process right now for a total of six.

[Kath Gra'tuur]

So I bought these today.  I have been told that as long as I cover the laces with armor or such, these will be approveable. 

I want to get feedback on the color.  Should I leave them as is (very worn looking) or dye the leather either brown or black?  Thoughts?

[Hik'aari]

I want to get feedback on the color.  Should I leave them as is (very worn looking) or dye the leather either brown or black?  Thoughts?

What theme (colour) is your kit and how weathered is it going to be? These are the sorts of things you want to be asking yourself.

If you are going for roughed up and well lived in, then the current wear and weathering on the boots is likely appropriate.
However, if your boots are this weathered but you have barely a scratch on the rest of the kit they will likely get kicked back.

The key to this is consistency, so weathering level should match across hard and soft parts of your kit

[Kath Gra'tuur]

Here is how the weathering is looking on my armor pieces. It's a decent amount without being totally banged up.

[Kath Gra'tuur]

Bought a really nice flight suit for $20 yesterday! It's black and fits just about right.  I will post some pictures later this week of the flight suit.

Update: Here's a pic of the flight suit (and boots):

[Kath Gra'tuur]

I will be updating this more this week.  I have had a heavy focus on my new  bucket the last couple of weeks.  I have finished my cape and will post pictures of later this week.

[Kath Gra'tuur]

I have not been updating this thread regularly like my other threads, but I have been working on my soft parts.  Here are some things that I have worked on:

* Taken in the flight suit.  I have taken in about 2 inches on the arms and legs to give them a tighter fit.  I hope to have some pictures of that next weekend. Here are a couple of pics to show how the suit was baggy before. I will also be weathering the flight suit. 




* Cape: I have completely weathered the cape. 



* Gloves: I bought some new gloves.  The ones I had originally were workout gloves that were open on the back.  The armor plate I had for that was too big and kept covering up the bottom of my gauntlet


http://i.imgur.com/Hy0RRLA.png[/img]

*Kama: You can also see in the pics above I am adding a Kama.  I am in the process of weathering it as well.

Update: Kama and flight suit weathered:

Kama (Outside): I frayed the edges.  Made a few burn spots.  I made a rip and discolored the edges of the slit.  I also hit it with some silver spray paint and a little black wash in spots. The crease in it is from being folded up in a box.





Kama Inside: I dirtied it up and hit it with some silver spray paint.



Flight Suit: On the flight suit, I have altered the arms and legs, taking in 2 inches for a closer fit.  I have also frayed seams, cut some holes and slits, made burn marks, and hit it with some silver spray paint.  It is much more distressed now.  Also, there area  couple of spots where the paint was heavier than I wanted, but those spots should be covered by either armor or other soft parts.

Front:




Back:




Update 08/15: I have also purchased an ammo belt.  I was not very happy with the ammo pouches and belt I had made.  The pouches did not stay on well and it rode up and down a bit.  I found this belt on Amazon.  It is all canvas with single button closures.  Here are before and after pictures (before and after weathering). 

Before:





After: I weathered with a metal file, fraying the edges and "sanding" down the fronts and edges. 

[Zando]

Looks really nice vod! Keep it up!

[Kath Gra'tuur]

Looks really nice vod! Keep it up!

Thanks Vod! Hoping to submit my app soon.